Monday, January 25, 2016

The Never Ending Journey Home

The trip from Georgia to Ohio took forever. Like.... forever. I left Georgia early Saturday morning and didn't make it home until Sunday evening.

My back and neck and shoulders were just killing me. I had to stop ever 60 to 90 minutes to get up, move around, stretch, try to relieve the pain a little.

Of course, I was also tending to Isaac and the cat. The cat was good on the never ending trip, no yowling or crying in the van. She just lay calmly in her carrier. She ate and drank when I offered her food and water.

She refused to use the litter box and peed once in the carrier. But only once on that ridiculously long trip! I wiped out the carrier and dried it and put a clean towel in it for her.

But it took time to feed Isaac and take him to pee and to offer the cat food and water and to offer her the opportunity to use the litter box even though she only growled at me. And I was moving slowly and in pain. And I was exhausted. Just exhausted. Several times I stopped for short naps.

On Saturday afternoon, I think I was somewhere in South Carolina (which shows you what slow going it was), I stopped at a state park to take Isaac for a walk. I thought a walk might help my back and energize me, plus I figured Isaac had to be going stir crazy in the car for so long. It started to rain after we'd only walked a short way, though, so that was sort of a bust.

Saturday night shortly after darkness fell, it started raining. It was really pouring and I was in so much pain. I stopped at a rest area and I thought I would sleep for a couple hours, then continue on. I woke up several times during the night, but each time, I was so tired and groggy and bleary-eyed I could barely see. Once I went to the bathroom and I felt wobbly, like I couldn't even walk straight. I decided that attempting to drive was not a good idea and slept some more.

I didn't start driving again until Sunday morning. And I hadn't gone far before the pain in my neck and shoulders was excruciating. I was starting to feel like I was never going to get home and I was feeling really frustrated with myself for having such a hard time doing something that should have been relatively easy - just driving.

It's hard to explain the level of frustration and anger I felt at myself. But I thought transporting this cat was something I could do, and while I did manage to do it, it was so hard. And it's not something I am likely to volunteer to do again. I still want to travel, and I will do that, but I will plan more time, rest more, not try to spend so many hours straight behind the wheel. But it made me rethink some of my plans and that was frustrating and painful.

Somewhere in West Virginia, I got off the turnpike and stopped at a truck stop and paid $7.50 to take a hot shower. It was actually only $5 for the shower but an additional $2.50 for a towel, a small bar and soap and a little packet of shampoo. Who wants to take a shower with no towel?

Isaac had to inspect the shower facilities before I actually took my shower, then he lay down near the door and waited for me to shower. I stood under water as hot as I could stand it and that relieved the pain some. It also just made me feel better and refreshed and a little more energetic.

After that, the rest of the trip seemed to go more quickly and we finally made it home.

Isaac was at least as happy as I was to get home. As the van pulled into the parking lot of our building, Isaac began to whimper in the back seat, the way he does when we go to a park he really likes. As we entered the building and got into the elevator, his tail began wagging harder and harder. As we headed down the hall toward our door, he was prancing with excitement.